Exam Preparation B2 C1 Lesson 10: Sports

B2/C1 Exam Preparation Course Lesson 10: Sports

Five things you should know about concussion and contact sports

If you play a contact sport, what should you know about concussion and health risks? Not being the most active person around I asked Doug Martini, a PHD student in the University of Michigan eurosport research laboratory, for his top five list of things everyone should know.One: If you’ve potentially suffered a concussion you should get an early and accurate diagnosis. If you don’t, you run the risk of prolonging symptoms like headache, dizziness and confusion.Two: Follow up care is important. Concussion is a result of changes in your brain after your head’s been hit, and if further harm occurs before it’s had time to heal more serious damage could result. That’s why it’s recommended that concussed sports players follow a graduate and supervised return to play.Three: It’s not yet clear what the long term health impacts of concussion might be, but there are indications that multiple concussions aren’t necessarily good for you. Research has shown, for instance, that if you sustain multiple concussions your brain function may be affected for up to six years after the injury.Four: Multiple head impacts that don’t lead to a diagnosis of concussion may also be significant. Studies show that repeated blows to the head over time, in young people, can lead to changes in how their brain behaves. It’s not yet clear what this means for their health but the indications are that you should probably avoid getting hit on the head repeatedly if you play a contact sport.Five: Helmets are designed to stop skull fractures, not prevent concussion. Concussions result from your brain being shaken about when your head takes a blow. While helmets make take some of the edge of this, they can’t prevent it all together. Because of this, efforts to reduce concussion related health risks include changing how athletes behave on the field and introducing better ways of managing and caring for their health.For more information on concussion and contact sports please do check the links in the blurb below, remember to let us know what you think in the comments.

ENGLISH

Nouns

a contact sport

health risks

research laboratory

Follow up care

serious damage

long term health impacts

brain function

young people

Helmets

skull fractures

blurb

the comments

Adjectives

accurate

significant

Verbs and idioms

prolonging symptoms

supervised

sustain multiple concussions

prevent concussion

Wheelchair technology in the Paralympics … and its spin-offs

By Brendan Burkett, Professor of Sport Science at University of the Sunshine CoastEquipment such as wheelchairs or prosthesis is fundamental in allowing some people with disabilities to carry out the tasks of daily living. But in the endeavour to go higher, faster and longer, athletes with a disability have found these standard devices can inhibit their sporting performance. So where do these two worlds meet?Paralympic sports evolved from medical rehabilitation programs in the 1950s. The objective of a rehabilitation program is to regain a level of function for the client. For an athlete with a disability, the highest expression of this return to function is to compete at an elite level in the Paralympic Games To satisfy the demands of elite athletes, significant new technological developments in wheelchair design and prostheses have occurred, demonstrated by radical equipment designs such as seated throwing chairs, racing wheelchairs, and running prosthesis.As technological advances continue to provide opportunities for improved athletic performance, an ongoing challenge for international sporting bodies is to determine if the use of a given technology represents “performance enhancement” or, rather, is “essential for performance”.A base to work fromThe traditional wheelchair (or day-chair) design consists of two larger wheels at the rear of the chair to allow forward propulsion via the push-rims, and two small smaller wheels at the front of the chair to provide stability. The steering of the day-chair is controlled by manipulating the rear wheels, either braking or propelling more on one side to change direction.But the unique requirements of sporting use have modified this conventional design dramatically. Due to the need for rapid acceleration and to change direction suddenly in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis, many chairs now incorporate a fifth wheel at the back, preventing the chair from flipping backwards during play.Different strokesIn the high-impact sport of wheelchair rugby, the chairs are also fitted with reinforced front and side bumper guards that have special “hooks” to trap opposition players. Players in such sports must often move quickly and change direction rapidly while carrying or holding balls or rackets. To accommodate this, the camber (angle) of the rear wheels is increased to facilitate a quicker “grab” of the rear wheel. This increased camber also improves hand protection when two chairs collide on the court and improves turn velocity.For athletes who compete on the track or road, racing wheelchairs resemble a cross between a wheelchair and a bicycle. As with sport-specific prosthetic limbs, there are sport-specific racing wheelchairs that are lighter, will track in a straight line and are aerodynamically designed to enhance track performance. For straight line racing on the track or road , the racing chair has evolved with an extra long-wheel base and a single large front wheel.The push-rims are considerably smaller on the racing chair as the biomechanics of this configuration requires less arm movement but greater push. As a wheelchair racer will generally only compete against fellow wheelchair racers, the issue of performance enhancement is a moot point as the technology is essential for performance.But the equity of access to this wheelchair technology must be addressed.Advances and applicationAdvances in technology underpin such assistive devices. The development of the energy-storing prosthetic foot can make a lower-limb amputee’s gait more efficient and ambulation faster. When this revolutionary prosthetic technology was specifically applied to sprinters, studies showed that running velocity was significantly increased. But the application of this technology has been controversial, as clearly demonstrated by the much-publicised Oscar Pistorius or “Blade Runner” debates before the 2008 Beijing and the 2012 London Olympic and now Paralympic Games.The skill of the athlete, coupled with this new prosthetic technology, enabled Oscar to enter qualification in the men’s 400m sprint in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.Although not discussed in peer-reviewed literature, it is well documented in the press and sports communities that both the Olympic and Paralympic movements struggle with the role of technology in the sporting arena. In the best interest of the athlete, and to avoid potential legal problems and unwarranted issues, the role of technology needs to be clarified. In particular the speculation that advances in technology create a greater advantage than the best performance-enhancing drugs – giving rise to the often-heard comment: “Who’s going to win the gold medal, the athlete or the technician?”Match fitA fundamental aspect of the above problem is for the sport scientist to effectively “match” the technology with the athletes’ requirements. Simply picking up an elite athlete’s equipment will not result in a world championship performance. If an athlete uses Roger Federer’s tennis racket, that alone will not produce a Grand Slam-level performance. The right matching requires skill, commitment, opportunity and technology. As such, advances in wheelchair technology are essential for an athlete to perform.And ultimately this new knowledge will translate into more functional wheelchair devices for daily activities in the broader population.

WRITING SKILLS

You can either:* Complete 2 writing assignments. You have 40 minutes if you wish to complete one now. The 2nd assignment you can complete at home.* You can also watch our Grammar VIDEO tutorials during the next 40 minutes if you prefer to complete the Writing at home.

IELTS (Academic)

For IELTS (Academic format), please select the ESSAY topic (250 words: in 40 minutes. Counts for 2/3 of the Writing score) and GRAPH DESCRIPTION (150 words: in 20 minutes. Counts for 1/3 of the Writing score). You will have 1h to complete both tasks on the day of the exam.

* ESSAY: Write an essay about how sports and national identity are interlinked.* GRAPH DESCRIPTION:Number of major sports teams by state & Map of USA with State namesThis map shows the US States by number of major sports teams. With the help of the State names map, summarise the information of the first map regarding sports, by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

IELTS (General)

For IELTS (General format), please select the ESSAY topic (250 words) and LETTER (150 words). You will have 1h to complete both tasks on the day of the exam.

* ESSAY: Write an essay about how sports and national identity are interlinked.* LETTER: Write a letter to a sports icon asking him/her to do a talk about the benefits of sport to children.

FCE

For FCE, please select 2 of the following: ESSAY, LETTER/EMAIL, REPORT, or REVIEW. You will have 1h20 to complete the tasks on the day of the exam.

* ESSAY: Write an essay about how sports and national identity are interlinked.* LETTER: Write a letter to a sports icon asking him/her to do a talk about the benefits of sport to children.* REVIEW: You have just read an article about a sports icon who has been involved in drugs, violence and reckless behaviour. Write a review on the behaviour and how it reflects negatively on those who admire said icon, particularly children.* REPORT: Write a report on the most common injuries sustained in a variety of sports.

CAE

For CAE, please select 2 of the following: ESSAY, LETTER/EMAIL, PROPOSAL, REPORT, or REVIEW. You will have 1h30 to complete the tasks on the day of the exam.* ESSAY: Write an essay about how sports and national identity are interlinked.* LETTER: Write a letter to a sports icon asking him/her to do a talk about the benefits of sport to children.* REVIEW: You have just read an article about a sports icon who has been involved in drugs, violence and reckless behaviour. Write a review on the behaviour and how it reflects negatively on those who admire said icon, particularly children.* PROPOSAL: Write a proposal for the hosting of the next olympic games in your highlighting the benefits to the IOC, businesses and the public.* REPORT: Write a report on the most common injuries sustained in a variety of sports.

TOEFL

For TOEFL, please select the ESSAY topic and write a second essay response based on either the READING or LISTENING passage of the lesson. You will have 50 minutes to complete both essays on the day of the exam.

* ESSAY: Write an essay about how sports and national identity are interlinked.* ESSAY: Essay response based on either the reading or listening passage of today’s lesson (Sport): Based on the listening, extreme sports have become increasingly popular. As a result, injuries and fatalities are an ever present danger. What is it that compels people to take part in such sports despite the inherent danger?